SyncToy 2.1 – Free File and Folder Syncing App From Microsoft

SyncToy 2.1 is a free application that synchronizes files and folders between locations. Typical uses include sharing files, such as photos, with other computers and creating backup copies of files and folders.

Overview
There are files from all kinds of sources that we want to store and manage. Files are created by our digital cameras, e-mail, cell phones, portable media players, camcorders, PDAs, and laptops. Increasingly, computer users are using different folders, drives, and even different computers (such as a laptop and a desktop) to store, manage, retrieve and view files. Yet managing hundreds or thousands of files is still largely a manual operation. In some cases it is necessary to regularly get copies of files from another location to add to primary location; in other cases there is a need to keep two storage locations exactly in sync. Some users manage files manually, dragging and dropping from one place to another and keeping track of whether the locations are synchronized in their heads. Other users may use two or more applications to provide this functionality.

Now there is an easier way. SyncToy, a free PowerToy for Microsoft Windows, is an easy to use, highly customizable program that helps users to do the heavy lifting involved with the copying, moving, and synchronization of different directories. Most common operations can be performed with just a few clicks of the mouse, and additional customization is available without additional complexity. SyncToy can manage multiple sets of folders at the same time; it can combine files from two folders in one case, and mimic renames and deletes in another case. Unlike other applications, SyncToy actually keeps track of renames to files and will make sure those changes get carried over to the synchronized folder.

SyncToy2.1 is powered by the latest synchronization engine from Microsoft Sync Framework 2.0 and provides better performance and robustness. The new features and improvements included in SyncToy 2.1 release are:

Better Performance: The speed of file copy operations is significantly increased across the board.

Improved Robustness: Much more resilient to transient network and file system errors and better error reporting which pin-points which file the sync failed on in case there’s a fatal error that stops the sync.

Folder pair configuration backup: Folder pair configuration is automatically backed up under %localappdata%\microsoft\synctoy\2.0. User can replace SyncToyDirPairs.bin with the backup copy to resolve last saved configuration.

Bug Fixes:

Fixed the data corruption issue when using SyncToy with NAS drives.

Fixed the issue that prevented uploading files to SharePoint when using SyncToy 2.0.

Fixed the issue that prevented delete changes from being synchronized when the sync option is set to “Echo”.

Fixed the UI issue where reported file time were off by the difference between local time and UTC when destination is a FAT volume.

The major new features and improvements included in previous SyncToy 2.0 release are:

Dynamic Drive Letter Assignment: Drive letter reassignment will now be detected and updated in the folder pair definition.

True Folder Sync: Folder creates, renames and deletes are now synchronized for all SyncToy actions.

Exclusion Filtering Based on Name: File exclusion based on name with exact or fuzzy matching.

Filtering Based on File Attributes: The ability to exclude files based on one or more file attributes (Read-Only, System, Hidden).

Folder Pairs With Shared Endpoints: Ability for folder pairs associated with the same or different instances of SyncToy to share end-points.

Command line enhancements: Added the ability to manage folder pairs via the command line interface.

Re-Architect Sync Engine: The SyncToy engine has been rearchitected to provide scalability and the ability to add significant enhancements in future releases.

Sync engine is also more robust insomuch that many single, file level errors are skipped without affecting the entire sync operation.

Sync Encrypted Files: Sync of Encrypted files works when local folder and files are encrypted, which addresses the common scenario involving sync between local, encrypted laptop PC folder and remote, unencrypted desktop PC folder.

64-Bit Support: SyncToy now has a native 64-bit build (x64 only) for 64-bit versions of Windows.

Note: We’ve taken great care to ensure that this tool operates as it should, but it is not part of Windows and is not supported by Microsoft Technical Support. For this reason, Microsoft Technical Support is unable to answer questions about SyncToy. To speak to other users and contribute feedback about your experiences with SyncToy, please use the SyncToy forum at http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/synctoy/threads.

System requirements

Instructions

Download SyncToy by clicking on the Download button below.

SyncToy Installation Notes:

Upgrade:
– If upgrading from an earlier version of SyncToy (e.g. SyncToy 1.4 or SyncToy 2.0), it is **CRITICAL** to ensure that all folder pairs are fully synchronized using the previous version before running SyncToy 2.1 setup. Not following this guideline can lead to unintended behavior and partial data loss when running SyncToy 2.1 for the first time after upgrade. All folder pairs must also be fully synchronized at least once right after the upgrade is done.

Installation & Uninstallation:
– Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of SyncToy2.1 are available as a single self-extracting archive executable which runs all of the required setup components when launched. The 64-bit version is targeted to 64-bit versions of Windows, e.g. Windows XP x64 Edition, Windows Vista 64-bit editions and Windows 7 x64 Edition.
– The 32-bit version may be installed and run on a 64-bit version of Windows as well.
– Simultaneous side-by-side installation of the 32-bit and 64-bit versions on the same machine is not recommended or supported.
– SyncToy 2.1 supports quiet installation by an Administrator user on the target machine. The steps for this are as follows. Please download the self-extracting archive executable and save locally. Extract files from the archive to a target directory. You’ll notice 3 MSI files in the set of extracted files. Each of the 3 MSIs can be run in quiet mode using the MSI command line utility (msiexec.exe). The order in which the MSIs need to be installed is: Synchronization.msi, ProviderServices.msi, SyncToysetup.msi.
– SyncToy 2.1 depends on components of the Microsoft Sync Framework 2.0 which are included in SyncToy setup. Installing SyncToy along with these dependent components requires the use of an account with Administrator privileges on the target machine. If the Microsoft Sync Framework 2.0 components are already installed on the target machine, SyncToy can be installed from a non-administrator user account.
– The SyncToy application will stop working if any of the dependent components are uninstalled, which can be fixed by re-running the full install package on the target machine.
– If SyncToy 2.1 is installed using an account which is different than the one that was used to install previous versions of SyncToy, then the previous version will not be uninstalled. In this case, it is recommended that users uninstall the previous version using the previously used user account before installing SyncToy 2.1.
– If uninstalling SyncToy 2.1, the same user account must be used which was used for installation.